Fennel ice cream

by black dog :: food blog on December 9, 2011

Don’t be so vanilla. 🙂 …. I love good vanilla ice cream especially the ones where you can see those little black dots. But my favorite flavor is Fennel! Fennel ice cream is new vanilla in my kitchen. I made it along with black sesame ice cream (I will post it!) last year’s Holiday party, all my guests loved it. How would I describe the taste?….Hmmm,,,,It does taste like vanilla (There is no vanilla added in the recipe though) but with a bit of an edge. Trust me, it will become your new favorite flavor. Now go to your significant others, give them a hint, wink wink : add ice cream machine to your Christmas list! I’ve already picked a few items from Amazon and am going to have my husband just ‘click’ for Christmas. Heehee =}

1. Bring the half and half, heavy cream and fennel seeds just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.

2. Leave fennel seeds and let it steep about 15-20 mins
3. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl until they lighten in color and gets a little foamy. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about a third of the cream mixture has been added.

4. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. (If you can draw a solid line with your finger, it’s ready.)
Warning: It is so easy to turn this into scrambled eggs. So don’t overcook!

6. Good morning! Now it’s time to turn on your ice cream machine.
7. It is good when it just comes out of the machine but be patient, hold your desire to eat the entire quart…let it harden in the freezer for at least an hour!